Duckhorn Three Palms Merlot 2011
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Wong
Wilfred -
Suckling
James -
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Wine
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Tasting Panel
Velvety and ripe with lovely acid structure, bright plum and blackberry fruit; classic, showing vanilla, minerals and impressive finesse; elegant, complex, long and exceptional - a great vineyard beautifully expressed.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
A consistent top-performing wine, the 2011 Duckhorn Three Palms Merlot shows so much class and breed. Not even in a year in which Mother Nature was un-cooperative, did the wine suffer any setbacks. The site is that good and the winery is super serious of producing a wine of top quality. Mineral, red fruit flavors abound here. This is superb food wine because it is so well balance. A few years will certainly help the wine round out and gain complexities. (Best Served: 2017-2025)
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James Suckling
Chocolate and black olives with some plums and berries. Fresh and delicious. Medium body. Round tannins. Walnut. Really holding on beautifully. Drink now.
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Wine Spectator
Impressively structured, with floral aromas of black cherry, toasty spice and cedar, and dense layered flavors of red currant. dried herb and spice. An excellent Merlot in a tough vintage.
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Founded by Dan and Margaret Duckhorn in 1976, Duckhorn Vineyards has been crafting classic Napa Valley wines for nearly 40 years. This winemaking tradition has grown to include seven meticulously farmed Estate vineyards, located throughout the various microclimates of the Napa Valley. Focused on quality and consistency, these Estate vineyards are an essential element in making wines of distinction. Pioneering and perfecting Merlot as a premium varietal, Duckhorn Vineyards now makes several elegant Merlot and distinctive Cabernet Sauvignon bottlings that showcase its premium vineyard sites. Duckhorn Vineyards has been named one of the “Top 100 Wineries” in the world eight times by Wine & Spirits, and the 2014 Duckhorn Vineyards Napa Valley Merlot Three Palms Vineyard was named the “2017 Wine of the Year,” topping Wine Spectator’s annual list of the world’s “Top 100 Wines.”
With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
One of Napa Valley’s oldest wine growing subregions but last to gain appellation status, Calistoga occupies the northernmost section of the valley. Beginning at the foot of Mount St. Helena, its vineyards stretch over steep canyons and roll out onto the valley floor. The soils in Calistoga are volcanic, which means they are heavy in minerals, low in organic matter and allow good drainage for vine roots, creating less green growth and more concentration of flavor within the grape berries.
Summer days are very hot but most nights cool down with moist ocean breezes sneaking in over the Mayacamas Mountains or from Knights Valley to its northwest.
Cabernet Sauvignon is the area’s star variety with Zinfandel coming in a strong second, though the latter commands far less price per tonnage so continues to be outshined by Cabernet in vineyard acreage, save for some important exceptions.